Types of Sources (containers)

Books

• Print vs. ebook
• Fiction vs. non-fiction
• Commercial (popular) vs. scholarly
• Single author vs. multiple authors
• Chapter in a book
• Reference books
• Textbooks

Articles

• Print vs. online
• Newspaper articles
• Magazine articles
• Scholarly journal articles
• News and opinion articles on newspaper and magazine websites

Websites and pages

• Websites for companies, organizations, institutions, governments, etc.

Streaming video and audio

• Videos on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.
• Podcasts

Social media

• Twitter, Instagram, etc.

Authority and Relevance of Sources

• Is contextual
• Depends on your needs

Ways to Use Sources

• Background
• Evidence
• Argument
• Method

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

Expertise and authority of an author

• What do we know about the author?
• Have they written or spoken about this topic before?
• Do they teach at college or university on this topic?
• Are they affiliated with a research institution or agency or think tank?
• What do other authors think of this one?

Sample Topic

Can a movie change attitudes about nuclear weapons?

Find the Keywords

movie

change

attitudes

nuclear weapons

Brainstorm Related Words

Think of synonyms, antonyms, specific examples, etc.

movie

• film
• "The Day After"
• made-for-television movie

change

• alter
• transform
• affect

attitudes

• perceptions
• beliefs
• feelings
• politics
• political positions

nuclear weapons

• nuclear war
• nuclear holocaust
• arms race
• disarmament
• anti-nuke
• no nukes
• peace movement

Search by Trying Different Combinations of Words

movie AND change AND perceptions AND nuclear weapons

film AND change AND perceptions AND nuclear weapons

film AND change AND perceptions AND nuclear war

movie AND affect AND attitudes AND nuclear war

"The Day After" AND change AND feelings AND nuclear war

What you CAN find in OneSearch
	Scholarly journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles
	Print books & ebooks @ Baruch College
	Print books @ other CUNY colleges
What you can SOMETIMES find in OneSearch
	Streaming videos & DVDs  Alternative: use the Videos & Movies guide
	Articles from reference books  Alternative: use the Dictionaries & Encyclopedias databases
What you CAN'T find in OneSearch
	Data & statistics  Alternative: use the Statistics databases
	Company & industry reports  Alternative: use the Business databases
	Market research reports  Alternative: use the Marketing databases

When you click "Define Your Search," you are presented with options you must select before you can type your search terms:

 

Books (print + ebooks) will search the OneSearch system.

Articles will search the OneSearch system for articles in journals, newspapers, and magazines.

Videos will search the OneSearch system for streaming videos and DVDs

Books + Articles + Videos will search OneSearch for all of the above format types and more.

Databases will link you to a page with an A-Z list of all library databases.

Journals will search the OneSearch system for journals we have online and in print.

Newspapers + Magazines will search the OneSearch system for newspapers and magazines we have online and in print.

Course Reserves will link you to a page listing all the courses where we have items on reserve.

Library Services & Policies will search just the library web pages for info about our services.

1. Quote marks around phrases = more precise results

2. Type AND in all caps between concepts

3. "Filter" your search results by resource type, date, and more. Use the "Limit to" option for "Peer Reviewed Journals" to get just scholarly journal articles.

4. Use "Advanced Search" mode for greater control

After you use the search box for OneSearch on the library home page, you see results that include different kinds of resources. Above the title of each item (in blue) is a label identifying the resource type.

• ARTICLE
  • if there's a "PEER REVIEWED" label on that listing, the article came from a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal
  • if there's no label, the article is from a newspaper or magazine
• BOOK
  • If there is a green "Available Online" link in the listing, that's an ebook
  • If there is no green "Available Online link, that's a print book
• BOOK CHAPTER
  • Chapter from an ebook
• REFERENCE ENTRY
  • entries from encyclopedias and dictionaries

Books

• Book citations often have two unique pieces of information:
  • The name of the city where the publishing company is located
    • Note that MLA style (8th edition) no longer requires this info
  • The name of the publishing company

This annotated screenshot is from page 216 in the following book:

Kaplan, Arie. From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books, The Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=1062352.

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, Scholarly Journals

• Article citations are unique in having the following information
  • A publication date that is more specific than just the year:
    • 18 February 2020
    • February 2020
    • Winter 2020
  • The name of the magazine, newspaper,  or journal AND the title of the article

This annotated screenshot is from page 218 in the following book:

Kaplan, Arie. From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books, The Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/baruch/detail.action?docID=1062352.